1968 Corvette Roadster

hooterville75

New Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
1,066
Hey all. Finally got a bit of work done on the 68 Corvette Roadster Im currently working on. Heres the parts all cleaned up and primered.

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Also got everything painted but the body and hood.

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I have to paint the one group of pieces Silver yet (I substituted Silver for the Satin Black parts) because I didnt like all the black parts in the build. Minus the Body and Hood every other part in the kit is Flat, Gloss or Satin Black. So the Satin black parts are going to be Silver. I still painted them a gloss black first then will hit them with Silver tomorrow evening before I shoot the hood and body.

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Dkev wow thanks for the info on the Patriot 105. What a huge difference in the amount of paint used when I turned the PSI back to 15 and barely pulled the trigger back. This airbrushing is getting to be a bit of fun now that Im getting the hang of it. I did realize something tonight. I was wondering why I would get short bursts of paint and wouldnt feel like barely any air was coming out of the airbrush at times. When I cleaned the airbrush to quit for the evening it appeared the tip was gunked up. I need to pay closer attention to that from now on when shooting with the airbrush.

More to come tomorrow evening.
 
Opps, every other part minus the hood, body and ENGINE parts ha ha is black. Forgot about the five orange parts :D
 
Yeah it is good to keep a Q-tip with thinner on it handy when airbrushing so you can wipe away any paint that builds up on the end of the needle and nozzle area.
 
Elm City Hobbies said:
Yeah it is good to keep a Q-tip with thinner on it handy when airbrushing so you can wipe away any paint that builds up on the end of the needle and nozzle area.

Im very confused by tonight's painting session. I managed to get everything painted but it was none the easiest and Im totally befuzzled by it all. I was shooting the red on the body my VERY first MIST coat. All the sudden from where I cant tell you because it happened so fast I got blasted with a blast of Gloss Red Paint from the airbrush. After I got past the fact of what just happened I looked at the tip and there is MEGA paint coming out the tip. Running out. I wiped it three times and finally it just quit. So Im thinking ok what the heck. Being a rookie I took the needle out to give it a wipe down with Lacquer thinner as the paint was Model Master Enamel. There was a tiny bit of paint in the cup yet when I pulled the needle out. I had paint EVERYWHERE. Every part of the airbrush was bright red in some way. So I stop painting and do a complete tare down. I dont have a ultrasonic cleaner so I just hand cleaned everything and left some major parts soak in lacquer thinner to be sure I got it all cleaned up being its enamel paint.

Amazed at what came out of the airbrush in different parts. Got it all cleaned up. Put more red paint in it to start again and it did the same thing minus the Blast of paint. Paint running out the tip. So I caught it and cleaned it up again, after the third wipe of the tip it sprayed fine the rest of the painting session minus the tip goobering up now and then. I did what you said only with a rag though with the lacquer thinner to clean the tip. Why is this now happening ? I never had tip build up before with any paint. Now its been doing it constantly the past two nights. Is this common with Enamel paint and more unlikely to happen with Acrylics or Urathenes from the spray bottle ?

Here is a pic of how the airbrush looked after the paint hiccup
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Here is what came out of the tip when I ran the pipe filter through it. (Ian, is the pipe filter familiar ha ha ).
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And here is what came out of another part of the airbrush but I forget which part.
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So yea to this point I have an airbrush problem somewhere obviously that Im not familiar with and have no clue what it could be. Any advice or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I think Im going to box the airbrush up and send it back to Badger to have a complete examination or rebuild whatever it is they do when you box it up and send em back. That or just buy a new airbrush all together sooner or later. When it paints it paints ok, I was actually feeling very confident about my paint job on this Corvette and feeling I was getting better but now tonight this happened and I feel as if Im clueless ha ha.

Im going to spray two wet coats tomorrow of the Gloss Red and call it finished with the red painting on this kit. Spray the Silver parts and be done painting totally other then the detailing that I need to brush paint.

Here however are the pics of the hood and body that I did get painted tonight. Three mist coats and one wet coat to this point.

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Oh yea one final thing. While doing the complete tare down on the airbrush, I ran a paper towel down the back handle with the piece cut out to tighten the needle chuck and when pulling it back out there was a rubber O ring stuck on the paper towell which I think goes around the threads (At least thats where I put it back on lol) but it appears that when I put the handle back on again and tighten it I can tighten it about two more turns then I could before the complete tare down. When it gets too tight now the rubber O ring will stretch and kinda buckle. Did I do something wrong to the O Ring or is that normal ? Do I need a new O ring maybe ?

Thanks again guys for any advice, suggestions or concerns on any of my posts, I appreciate the help from everyone.
 
I just got in, and I've got some stuff to attend to, but I'll revisit this tomorrow and try to help. In the meantime I'm sure others will chime in.
 
Which Badger model do you have? You should be able to find a complete expanded view of the parts to show exactly where the O ring goes. Perhaps that is the problem. O-rings don't usually need to be replaced unless they dry out and crack.
 
Sounds like a missing or broken seal. If the nozzle isn't completely sealed well, it will blow paint out of everywhere.

As far as the paint coming out from the cup when you pulled the needle out of the airbrush, well of course it will, the seal between the needle and the nozzle seal is all that is keeping the paint in the cup from running out. Remove the needle, and any paint in the cup is just going to dump out of the airbrush through the front (if it is a gravity feed).

Always dump the paint out of the cup before you disassemble the airbrush.
 
Elm City Hobbies said:
Sounds like a missing or broken seal. If the nozzle isn't completely sealed well, it will blow paint out of everywhere.

As far as the paint coming out from the cup when you pulled the needle out of the airbrush, well of course it will, the seal between the needle and the nozzle seal is all that is keeping the paint in the cup from running out. Remove the needle, and any paint in the cup is just going to dump out of the airbrush through the front (if it is a gravity feed).

Always dump the paint out of the cup before you disassemble the airbrush.

So the tip can actually be put on wrong ? I have a Badger Patriot 105. The Tip just sets in the hole and the head cup screws on top of the tip with the spray regulator screwing onto the head cup. I checked a diagram of the airbrush earlier and the O ring is put on the proper place.
 
hooterville75 said:
Elm City Hobbies said:
Sounds like a missing or broken seal. If the nozzle isn't completely sealed well, it will blow paint out of everywhere.

As far as the paint coming out from the cup when you pulled the needle out of the airbrush, well of course it will, the seal between the needle and the nozzle seal is all that is keeping the paint in the cup from running out. Remove the needle, and any paint in the cup is just going to dump out of the airbrush through the front (if it is a gravity feed).

Always dump the paint out of the cup before you disassemble the airbrush.

So the tip can actually be put on wrong ? I have a Badger Patriot 105. The Tip just sets in the hole and the head cup screws on top of the tip with the spray regulator screwing onto the head cup. I checked a diagram of the airbrush earlier and the O ring is put on the proper place.

Check the O ring to see if there are any cracks, breaks in it. No other reason why it would be belching paint like that unless it isn't sealed properly.
 
I looked up the schematic on your airbrush and it's a lot like the Badger 200 that was my first airbrush as far as the business end goes. Be really sure you don't lose part 41 when you clean it. It's a brass nipple looking thing that the tip of the needle sticks out of. I lost this on my 200 (flushed it down the sink) and rendered the brush useless until I got a replacement part.

I keep an empty paint jar of thinner and remove all of the tip components of my airbrush as soon as I finish a session to keep any paint from gumming it up. I have a mesh sink strainer that I use to catch the parts when I remove them from the cleaning solution. Try to stay away from cotton swabs or even pipe cleaners for cleaning an airbrush as the cloth can gum things up. I have plastic tooth picks to clean the nozzle with. Rely on thinner and a kick up of pressure at the compressor to keep it clean.

I try to keep my thinners specific to the paint I'm using. Lacquer for lacquer, mineral spirits or acetone for enamel and rubbing alcohol for acrylics. I used mineral spirits to clean up after lacquer once and spent a good hour breaking down my brush and cleaning it. The enamel thinner turned the lacquer paint to a rubberized plastic string stuff.

Amazing what modeling will teach you about paint chemistry...

Since you say you're new to airbrushing, find as many videos on thinning as possible. The general rule I've found is that the paint should have the consistency of 2% milk to spray well. Read the manual for your Badger and see what it says about thinning. The best ready mixed airbrush paint I've found so far are the metals from Alclad II, and they are more like inks than paint and spray at 10 psi. They are lacquers.

Make sure the tip parts are on good and finger tight and use the cup cap. With my Iwata Revolution, I have had paint run around the tip like you describe and it is traceable to spills down the side from the uncovered cup.

Good luck.

Dale
 
I painted a bit today. No real major problems. I did take the tip out and put it back in. This time I put the needle in before the tip and slid the tip over the needle, pressing it back until it was tight. It seemed to spray great. I did notice however, that when I was finished with my painting session for the day, that while spraying alcohol through it to finalize the cleaning there was air bubbles coming from around the threads of where the spray regulator (41-034 part number), and head cup (51-071 part number), screw onto the main part of the airbrush. I took the handle off again and re tightened it to where the O-ring didn't buckle this time. I think I'm just going to send it back to Badger and have them maintenance it or rebuild it whatever it is they do to it when you send them back to them. That way Ill know I have a proper working airbrush. None the less its working and getting the job done at the present time so :D I'm content I guess.

I may give the body of the Corvette one more wet coat tomorrow so Ill see how it works tomorrow. I also have a question in regards to Primer for someone. I tape all my parts on a bigger index card of the same color to primer and paint them. On the card, after I was finished primering the parts I noticed that the excess primer that landed on the tape with no parts on has cracked three or so days later. I also noticed that on the rubber laytex gloves that I wore to primer the parts that it flakes off very easily if brushed against. Is this normal for Primer or is this another problem I have to tend to ? The primer that is flaking and cracking on the cards tape is Rustoleum Sandable Primer out the rattle can.

Scott (ECH) I did notice another problem that I have to correct to have sufficient and positive outcomes when dealing with airbrushing. I need to get a new pressure regulator for the air compressor as well as mise well get a new moisture trap as well. I noticed that when I drained the air out of the tank before I went back upstairs after done painting that the pressure gauge on the air compressor only dropped to 20 after all the air was drained out of the tank. I'm not a genius but do know that shouldn't be happening and it should drop back down to zero lol.

So yea, its very exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Guess that's the joy of building scale models. Building scale models is like the energizer bunny, you keep going and going and going back to do more the next day ha ha. Thanks for your help all. (Sorry for the novel).
 
Just your primer isn't sticking to the tape or your gloves, both are very flexible, and not an ideal surface for paint of any kind to really stick to, so wouldn't read too much into it.

As far as your compressor not going to 0, yeah might be a bad gauge.

How is your AB connected to the hose? A quick connect? Or just screwed on? Your compressor might have a back valve in it to stop air from from the hose back into the compressor (doubtful, but just maybe). Pop your airbrush off the hose and see if there is any air in it that might be keeping your regulator gauge up. If not, then yeah the gauge is probably bad.

When I was using my compressor with the tank, I always left the tank valve open when it wasn't in use, so moisture wouldn't build up inside. IE, when you drain the tank, leave the valve open until you go to use the airbrush again.
 
I had problems with pressure regulation at the line level when I first got my compressor. It had one regulator that managed the pressure in the tank and if I set it to the line pressure I wanted I lost the advantage of the tank. I added a second regulator that I got off Amazon to get something like the photo. The first regulator holds the tank at about 75 psi and the second keeps the line at 20 or wherever I set it. I go down to 10 for Alclad II and 35 for cleaning.

I tried a regulator from a hardware store first but it held the pressure by bleeding, which defeated the purpose. The one I got on-line is for airbrushes and cost around 15 bucks.

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Dale
 
I connect the airbrush by screwing it on to the hose. When I take it off while still having air going to it the hose swings like a cobra doing the electric slide. I will take some photos of the gauges and see if you can see anything there. I have zero knowledge on how to change these things so Ill have to take a look today and give it a study. Maybe by seeing photos of it youll have some advice to give as well. Thanks for the info all.
 
hooterville75 said:
I connect the airbrush by screwing it on to the hose. When I take it off while still having air going to it the hose swings like a cobra doing the electric slide. I will take some photos of the gauges and see if you can see anything there. I have zero knowledge on how to change these things so Ill have to take a look today and give it a study. Maybe by seeing photos of it youll have some advice to give as well. Thanks for the info all.

What I meant was, after you shut off the compressor and drain the tank of air, unscrew your airbrush from the line. Possible the compressor has a back valve preventing the air from the hose from going back into the tank, which may be why it is still reading 20psi with an empty tank.

Likely not, and it is just a bad gauge, but worth a try.
 
My regulators look like this. The glass jar thing on the bottom is a moisture trap designed to keep the line free of water. It has a drain spring on the bottom. When I'm done painting I press it up to decompress the tank, then I can disconnect the airbrush without it running all over the place. Since my set-up uses two, one decompresses the tank and the other decompresses the line..

Post a photo of your compressor if you can. It will help all this remote troubleshooting we're doing.

Dale

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I will here in a bit because I'm not on my laptop at the current time. Mine overheated for some reason and shut off. So I'm on the better halves. I took photos earlier when I was down working on the Vette of my compressors gauges and valve. Ill tell you now my gauges are nothing like yours. Obviously I don't have a moisture trap on mine. Its just got the gauge to tell me the air pressure and the regulator to control how much air I shoot through the airbrush. There is only one turn valve on the bottom of the tank and then a valve I can pull to drain the air out of the tank when I'm done using the compressor. Being a Craftsman Compressor I'm going to start looking now to see what is available and how much a moisture trap and both gauges will cost to replace. Just another more prioritized purchase in front of the video recorder :( Ill never be able to produce quality videos for you tube ha ha.
 
Here are a couple photos. The first is of the valve underneath the tank.

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Looking down on top of the gauges
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Angle shot of the unit
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And looken straight at the gauges
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I dont have a quick release yet, as I only have one airbrush so theres really no need for me to have a quick release yet.
 
I was looking up Craftsman compressors while you posted this and that is the valve configuration I thought you had. The main thing you are missing is a water trap and moisture in the line may be some of the problem depending on where you live. The cheapest way to add one is to get one like the regulator I posted and mount it between your compressor and hose without removing anything from the factory stuff. Open the factory line valve up and let the newer one with the moisture trap manage that. The one I have cost under $20 from Amazon. Look up air compressor regulators at TCglobal.com and see what they have. The fittings are universal. 1/4 inch, I think. Some companies make moisture trap filters that serve as pistol grips and mount to the airbrush itself. Iwata makes one but it won't fit that Badger connection unless the one you have is different from my 200. It's a very small thread that goes into a ball in the end of the hose. don't spend a lot of money but do get one of these filters of some kind. Moisture can destroy your airbrush and muck up your paint jobs.

Dale
 
Hooter, have you tried pulling the pop off valve below the first gauge?

In the last photo, gauge on the right, just below it is an over pressure valve. Basically a safety in case the compressor doesn't shut off when the tank is full.

Pull on it and see if any air comes out after you have the tank drained. Your first gauge is the one reading 20psi, so if there is air in the system, it is from that gauge, back into the compressor. Just pull the release valve, if no air comes out, and the gauge doesn't change, then the gauge is just stuck/broken.

Really not the end of world, as it's only job is to tell you the pressure in the tank, the gauge on the left with the adjustment knob is the one that matters, as that would be your output pressure that is going to your airbrush.
 

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